Opening Weekend - Champions League

I'm sure, like me, everyone is excited to see the kids play this weekend. Unfortunately for the u10's our mid-week match day got cancelled when WRAL grass fields were closed due to the hard rains the previous day. This made it impossible for us to have enough field space to play the games. Hopefully we can play games on Friday with the U-9's.

Before the opening weekend I wanted to address a few things about the games and our philosophy on competition and games at the YTS level. The first and main point is that RESULTS DO NOT MATTER at this level. Our job at YTS is to introduce competitive soccer to these players, our job at YTS is NOT to win games, in all honesty, we do not care about the results. We do recognize that winning is part of a positive experience for the kids, but ultimately we want our kids to improve and enjoy the experience. As a parent you are very important to this. Your demeanor on the sideline has a huge impact on your kids and the game itself. We ask that you encourage and cheer for your kids in a POSITIVE way, that is all. Please do not yell at your kids in frustration or try to coach your kid from the sideline. Only the coach is to give instructions about the game, your job is to encourage.

Also, be aware that this might not be the philosophy of other clubs and results MAY matter to other parents, coaches, players and teams. If this is the case, do not get involved in any disagreements with other parents. CASL is the largest club in the country and certainly the largest club in our area, all eyes are on us so we need to act accordingly.

Just as YTS is an early stage of soccer for these kids, it is also an early stage of refereeing for our officials. They will make mistakes. Do not complain or yell at the referee. Not only is this something we do out of respect to the referees, but it also has a huge impact on your child. If you yell at the referee he/she will think it is ok to yell at the referee.

Hopefully you have recognized that we are trying to create an environment where these children are not just on teams but are a part of a great YTS program. I encourage any family who has a little spare time on Sunday to come out and support the other teams that are playing.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing all of you this weekend.

FYI: This is the link to the weather hotline for Green Hope.
http://www.fccary.com/fcc_weather.htm

ANNOUNCING 1st Mid-Week Match Days, September 8th and 11th

Hopefully your son or daughter has enjoyed the first few weeks of YTS practice. We also know that, thought the practices and training are fun and have been good, these kids want to play games.

Tuesday, September 8th for the 10's and Friday, September 11th for the 9's will be our first Mid-week Match Day. We ask that you make an effort to be at practice at or before 4:30 so that we can kick off the games by 5:00. These games will be a chance for the players to play with their teams before the kickoff of the Champions League season.

We will announce a schedule and what uniform to wear when we get closer to the games but we do ask that the players bring both jerseys to WRAL stadium and we will send them to the appropriate fields after we meet as a group. These games will be refereed and run by the coaches with little emphasis on results.

YTS Weekly Update 8/24/09

Parents and Players,
We have been lucky with the unpredictable weather thus far and are off to a good start to the season. As you can see the players are working hard on the technique of passing and we are now starting to add some footwork and ideas into their training. Their homework is critical and working with the ball is very important as they move forward this year and beyond. The game of soccer does not become enjoyable, really enjoyable, until they know how to pass and dribble the soccer ball so that is what we will work on in the early stages of this year's training.

JERSEY DAY!
This week we will introduce jersey day to the YTS program. If your son or daughter has a favorite soccer jersey, maybe from a previous team they played on or a European or MLS team that they follow, on Tuesday for the 10's and Friday for the 9's we will have JERSEY DAY. Each player is encouraged to wear their favorite Mia Hamm, Christiano Ronaldo or Caleb Norkus jersey to practice. On Jersey day we will be introducing a fun exercise that is done on the beaches of Brazil and throughout the world...Barefoot Soccer. We will spend a half hour on our warm-up and then the players will take off their shoes, we will put some music on in the stadium and they will play 4 vs. 4 barefoot soccer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
When we train at Cedar Fork please watch training from the outer perimeter of the fields. Also, please respect the coach and the training session by keeping a proper distance between you and the practice. Finally, Do not cheer, coach or make any comments to your children during practice. If you do such things I will ask you to leave the practice area.

YTS Weekly Update 8/17/09

YTS Players and Parents-
The first week of the YTS season was a success, the coaching staff was very excited to work with the kids for the first time and put faces to names.

Throughout the season these updates will touch on a number of different issues that come up during the season but I will also make an effort to speak about the players and the training that they are getting and why they are doing the things that they are doing...

A main concern with younger players at CASL and in our country is that they are "skipping steps" i.e. moving past skills that haven't been learned and mastered. We will ask your children to spend a lot of time on their personal skills...passing, recieving, dribbling, etc. Each day in the early parts of the season we will spend together as a group working on these skills. As I tell the kids, everyone can pass the ball but how well can they do it and how consistently can they do it. "You cannot play the game if you don't have the tools to play it."

Hopefully the kids have gone home to work on their "homework". I will be giving them challenging but achievable skill tests after each training session for them to go home and work on their own at. You can be an active part of this by passing or juggling with them or you can be a helpful part by sending them out to the backyard before dinner to do their "homework."

If there is one thing that we hope to achieve this year it is for your children to fall in love with the game. If they leave this season feeling this way then we have done our jobs and the skill and soccer work will take care of itself.

All paperwork is in, thanks for being on top of that. There will be a few additions to rosters after some kids have come out to tryout in the last couple of weeks, otherwise, we are looking forward to another great week. See you on the fields.

Carson

YTS Champions League Schedule Announced!

Attached is the link to the North Carolina Champions League Schedule. As you click on the site, look to the left side bar for your age group's schedule, click on this link and you find the details that you need.

We will also be holding additional "in house" games that will be announced in the next few weeks. These will be matches between CASL YTS teams not on the YTS schedule.

Looking forward to seeing the kids this week and getting things started. Remember, Next Monday will be the first "Weekly Update" that will be posted without an email to remind you all. See you on the field.

http://ncchampionsleague.com/

YTS Starts Week of August 10th!

Parents and Players-
Thanks to those who made it out on Tuesday for the training session. We were able to collect birth certificates, US Club Soccer Forms and T-shirt order forms. If you did not submit these forms, please send them to your team manager as soon as possible. Your child will not be able to play in games without the submission of these forms. If you do not know what I am talking about, scroll down and read the previous post concerning the collection of forms.

-We will officially begin practice on Monday, August 10th with your teams. The YTS practice schedule is below. Starting Monday, August 10th I will publish a "WEEKLY UPDATE" that will be posted before 12 Noon each Monday of the season. This will be a summary of the past week, the practice schedule and any important news and notes. This post will also have "homework" for the kids and pictures and info for them as well so I encourage you all to have them read the site as well. The more ownership these kids have in this program the better it will be. Please note that AN EMAIL WILL NOT BE SENT TO LET YOU KNOW OF THE POST. Please make it a point to check the blog each Monday for any information that you all need.

-I met and organized the schedule with the other members of the club and the official schedule will be announced before the first day of practice on Monday, August 10th. As soon as it is official, we will post it on this site and also provide a link to the league site.

-Your T-Shirt order forms are being processed and I will be in touch with the team managers who will pick them up for the respective teams.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a week. See the schedule below:

YTS U-10: Tuesday, 4:30, WRAL Stadium
YTS U-9: Wednesday, 4:30, Cedar Fork (Cary)
YTS U-10: Thursday, 4:30, Cedar Fork (Cary)
YTS U-9: Friday, 4:30, WRAL Stadium

JULY YTS NEWS...

Greetings everyone, I hope you all are having a good summer. The YTS season is quickly approaching and there is some information I have for you and some things we need to get done.

1. TRAINING FEES

Parents, it is very important that you read over the emails sent by Zana Suggs. Training fees for the first month of August are due by August 1st. CASL has given two convienent options to cover this fee and get it taken care of right now. If you do not choose one of these options a check will be expected each month of the season from you. The options are:

A. Credit Card payment for the entire season:

This can only be done at the CASL office and can only be done from 12 Noon - 5pm, July 13-17th

B. Automatic Bank Draft Payment: This is a monthly deduction in the ammount of the training fees from your personal account. Below is the attached form, a voided check will need to be included to complete the process.

2. YTS PRE-SEASON MINI-CAMP!

We will be holding a two-day mini camp on Monday and Tuesday, July 27th and 28th, from 4:30-6:15 This will be a fun informal chance for the kids to meet each other, do some skill and ball work and PLAY. This will be held at WRAL with a field assignment to be announced at a later date. It is ok if you cannot be there or have vacation plans, this is simply a chance to get together before the season and play.

3. MATERIALS!

Everyone has been great about getting in the uniform order. We will ask for a few more things and then we'll stop bothering you and let you enjoy your kid's soccer experience, here's what we need:

A) Copy of a birth Certificate: we will be collecting birth certificates at the Mini-Camp, if you cannot attend the mini-camp dates, please send the birth certificate to your team manager.

B) Fill out the US Club Medical Waiver form (link below):

http://www.usclubsoccer.org/Files/PLAYER-REGIS_MED%20AUTH%20FORM.doc

Similar to Birth Certificates, we will be collecting this form during the mini-camp and are happy for you to bring it then. Simply, click on the link, fill out the form, print it, sign it and bring it in. If you can't be there, send it to your team manager.

C) Fill out and Turn in your T-shirt order form: You will be recieving a T-shirt order form from your team managers. At YTS practice we will expect the kids to be wearing this t-shirt along with black socks and black shorts. The t-shirts are $9.00 each. If you have t-shirts from past years it is fine to re-use them, you do not have to buy new ones if you already have some. These forms along with a check will be accepted at the Mini-Camp, if you cannot be at the mini-camp, please send them into your team managers

-If you bring these items to Mini-Camp please put all of them in ONE envelope with your child's name and his YTS Team.

4. SCHEDULING:

I have met with the directors of the Champions League and we are beginning to form schedules for the league. To help you with your calendars what I can tell you is that all games of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE will be played on Sundays throughout the fall with three time slots: 1pm, 2:30 or 4:00.

The league will begin on Sunday, September 13th and run through Sunday, November 15th. The schedule will be released during the 2nd week of August.

That's it for now, as always, thanks.